by calculated risk January 20, 2025 11:17:00 AM
Provided by Association of American Railroads (AAR) railway time indicator. Graphs and excerpts reprinted with permission..
The total U.S. vehicle fleet in 2024 was 11.34 million vehicles, a decrease of 2.9% (343,156 vehicles) from 2023 and a decrease of 2.3% (265,491 vehicles) from 2022. … Meanwhile, car loads excluding coal increased in 2024. 1.4%, or 117,264 more units in 2023, marking the third year-over-year increase in the past four years.
In 2024, U.S. railroads rolled out 13.84 million containers and trailers, the most since 2021. For the third time in history (following 2018 and 2021), it increased by 9.3% (1.17 million) compared to 2023.
Emphasis added
Click on the graph to see a larger image.
This graph is Railway time display report Shows the six-week average vehicle load for the past three years. Total vehicle loads in the fourth quarter decreased 2.0% compared to the same period last year.
Total carloads on U.S. railroads in the fourth quarter of 2024 decreased 2.0%, or 57,285 units, compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. Total vehicle loads decreased year-on-year in each quarter of 2024, after increasing (albeit slightly) in three out of four quarters. Quarter 2023. Total vehicle loads in the fourth quarter of 2024 averaged 220,336 vehicles per week. Only in 2020 have there been lower fourth-quarter weekly averages for records dating back to 1988.
And in Intermodal:
Intermodal traffic averaged 279,275 units per week in the fourth quarter of 2024, an 8.8% increase over the fourth quarter of 2023 and the highest fourth quarter on our record. (Q3 2018 and Q2 2021 were higher among all quarters.) Container volume in Q4 2024 averaged 269,460 units per week, a 10.0% increase over Q4 2023 and the highest of all quarters.
memo: Even before the pandemic, rail transit was vulnerable. As AAR notes, “rail freight volumes decline due to trade tensions and lower manufacturer production” in 2019. These factors may impact rail traffic again in 2025.
